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CNN Live Saturday
U.S. Navy Seizes Drug Shipment In Persian Gulf
Aired December 20, 2003 - 12:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Central Command says for a second time in five days, coalition forces have made a major drug seizure in the Persian Gulf region. A spokesman says forces seized, what they believe to be, heroin and methamphetamines from two small vessels. 21 crewmen are now in U.S. Naval custody. Today's arrests follow Monday's raid on another vessel that turned up nearly $10 million of hashish and linked some of the crew members to al-Qaeda.
Joining us by phone with more information about today's drug boost is Rear Admiral Jim Stavridis, commander of the "USS Enterprise."
Thank you so much. Admiral, for joining us. What did you find in today's raid, what can you tell us about it?
REAR ADM. JIM STAVRIDIS, USS ENTERPRISE: Holly, thanks for the opportunity to appear here. We were able to find a great deal of heroin. We found two 50-pound bags, and then we have video of the smugglers throwing approximately 200 of these similar bags over the side so if you kind of do the math, that comes out to about five tons of uncut heroin with the street value approaching $860 million. So, a pretty significant drug bust for us today in the North Arabian Sea.
FIRFER: And of the 21 people who you apprehended, do we know if any of them have ties to al-Qaeda?
STAVRIDIS: Holly, we do not, at this time, have definitive sense of whether they have ties to al-Qaeda. We are investigating that, and I believe we'll have more to follow on that aspect of the story.
FIRFER: So, now what happens to those 21 crewmen taken into Naval custody? Where are they and where will they be processed?
STAVRIDIS: Currently, they're held onboard an Egis cruiser, the "USS Philippine Sea," which is part of the "Enterprise" carrier strike group. They're in Navy custody now and the investigation into their background continues and we'll take disposition from the results of that investigation. So, they are currently at sea in the "USS Philippine Sea."
FIRFER: Now, as we mentioned, this comes on the heels of another drug bust five days ago, nearly $10 million worth of hashish found on another ship the Arabian Gulf. What does it tell but intelligence coordination in the region?
STAVRIDIS: I think we're doing very, very well in that regard right now, both with our own sources and with our coalition partners. There were New Zealand, Australian, and United Kingdom forces involved in this, and the coordination amongst all the allies and friends in the region is very good and the intelligence, I think, is very promising for us out at sea.
FIRFER: Can you tell us how this went down, how you were alerted there might be a ship carrying drugs? Who was notified and how you went about pulling the ship over?
STAVRIDIS: Again, Holly, we received information from a variety of sources that gave us a pretty good location on this dhow as it transited through international waters, south of Pakistan. We sent "USS Philippine Sea" at top speed out of the Persian Gulf and she intercepted the dhows -- the dhows are these small smuggling ships in the Gulf, intercepted the two dhow off the coast of Oman. "Philippine Sea" then used her helicopters that she carried onboard to slow down the dhows and then we put our Navy teams of special boarding experts -- sailors who've been trained in doing this kind of work, they came in a small ribs, we called them -- high-speed boats, they came alongside the dhows and took possession of them, confiscated the drugs, and brought these 21 crewmembers into Navy custody.
FIRFER: And, you had mentioned you saw one of these dhows, they were dumping those drugs overboard. Will they be able to be recovered?
STAVRIDIS: No, the bags were weighted and were sent straight to the bottom there, but we have excellent, excellent videotape on this, which I believe will be made available to your viewers shortly. You see the drug smugglers frantically throwing these bags overboard. So, because they missed two bags onboard we know exactly what they were throwing over so we can kind of put it all together to get a sense of the size of this drug bust.
FIRFER: Rear Admiral Jim Stavridis, commander of the "USS Enterprise," thank you so much for joining us.
STAVRIDIS: Thank you, Holly. All the best.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 20, 2003 - 12:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Central Command says for a second time in five days, coalition forces have made a major drug seizure in the Persian Gulf region. A spokesman says forces seized, what they believe to be, heroin and methamphetamines from two small vessels. 21 crewmen are now in U.S. Naval custody. Today's arrests follow Monday's raid on another vessel that turned up nearly $10 million of hashish and linked some of the crew members to al-Qaeda.
Joining us by phone with more information about today's drug boost is Rear Admiral Jim Stavridis, commander of the "USS Enterprise."
Thank you so much. Admiral, for joining us. What did you find in today's raid, what can you tell us about it?
REAR ADM. JIM STAVRIDIS, USS ENTERPRISE: Holly, thanks for the opportunity to appear here. We were able to find a great deal of heroin. We found two 50-pound bags, and then we have video of the smugglers throwing approximately 200 of these similar bags over the side so if you kind of do the math, that comes out to about five tons of uncut heroin with the street value approaching $860 million. So, a pretty significant drug bust for us today in the North Arabian Sea.
FIRFER: And of the 21 people who you apprehended, do we know if any of them have ties to al-Qaeda?
STAVRIDIS: Holly, we do not, at this time, have definitive sense of whether they have ties to al-Qaeda. We are investigating that, and I believe we'll have more to follow on that aspect of the story.
FIRFER: So, now what happens to those 21 crewmen taken into Naval custody? Where are they and where will they be processed?
STAVRIDIS: Currently, they're held onboard an Egis cruiser, the "USS Philippine Sea," which is part of the "Enterprise" carrier strike group. They're in Navy custody now and the investigation into their background continues and we'll take disposition from the results of that investigation. So, they are currently at sea in the "USS Philippine Sea."
FIRFER: Now, as we mentioned, this comes on the heels of another drug bust five days ago, nearly $10 million worth of hashish found on another ship the Arabian Gulf. What does it tell but intelligence coordination in the region?
STAVRIDIS: I think we're doing very, very well in that regard right now, both with our own sources and with our coalition partners. There were New Zealand, Australian, and United Kingdom forces involved in this, and the coordination amongst all the allies and friends in the region is very good and the intelligence, I think, is very promising for us out at sea.
FIRFER: Can you tell us how this went down, how you were alerted there might be a ship carrying drugs? Who was notified and how you went about pulling the ship over?
STAVRIDIS: Again, Holly, we received information from a variety of sources that gave us a pretty good location on this dhow as it transited through international waters, south of Pakistan. We sent "USS Philippine Sea" at top speed out of the Persian Gulf and she intercepted the dhows -- the dhows are these small smuggling ships in the Gulf, intercepted the two dhow off the coast of Oman. "Philippine Sea" then used her helicopters that she carried onboard to slow down the dhows and then we put our Navy teams of special boarding experts -- sailors who've been trained in doing this kind of work, they came in a small ribs, we called them -- high-speed boats, they came alongside the dhows and took possession of them, confiscated the drugs, and brought these 21 crewmembers into Navy custody.
FIRFER: And, you had mentioned you saw one of these dhows, they were dumping those drugs overboard. Will they be able to be recovered?
STAVRIDIS: No, the bags were weighted and were sent straight to the bottom there, but we have excellent, excellent videotape on this, which I believe will be made available to your viewers shortly. You see the drug smugglers frantically throwing these bags overboard. So, because they missed two bags onboard we know exactly what they were throwing over so we can kind of put it all together to get a sense of the size of this drug bust.
FIRFER: Rear Admiral Jim Stavridis, commander of the "USS Enterprise," thank you so much for joining us.
STAVRIDIS: Thank you, Holly. All the best.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
